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Astrology
Astrology is the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial objects as a means for divining information about human affairs and terrestrial events. Astrology has been dated to at least the 2nd millennium BCE, and has its roots in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, and some – such as the Indians, Chinese, and Maya – developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest astrological systems still in use, can trace its roots to 19th–17th century BC Mesopotamia, from which it spread to Ancient Greece, Rome, the Arab world and eventually Central and Western Europe. Contemporary Western astrology is often associated with systems of horoscopes that purport to explain aspects of a person's personality and predict significant events in their lives based on the positions of celestial objects; the majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems. Throughout most of its history astrology was considered a scholarly tradition and was common in academic circles, often in close relation with astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, and medicine. It was present in political circles, and is mentioned in various works of literature, from Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer to William Shakespeare, Lope de Vega and Calderón de la Barca. The reasoning for it being treated as a scholarly tradition being that it was based on an early understanding of the existence of causality and far reaching effects, but before there was a firm understanding of how to understand what these effects might be. During the 20th century and following the wide-scale adoption of the scientific method, astrology has been challenged successfully on both theoretical and experimental grounds, and has been shown to have no measurable scientific validity or explanatory power. Astrology thus lost its academic and theoretical standing, and common belief in it has largely declined. In addition, various groups in the past such as various christians accused astrology of being fictitious, or at best incomplete. St. Augustine for example believed that the determinism of astrology conflicted with the Christian doctrines of man's free will and responsibility, and God not being the cause of evil, but he also grounded his opposition philosophically, citing the failure of astrology to explain twins who behave differently although conceived at the same moment and born at approximately the same time. This being despite that the bible implies astrology is true, showing that the magi reached Jesus via an understanding of it. Megaten of course references astrology a few times, most notably in the plot of devil survivor 2, and in some references such as the chinese zodiac showing up as demons in SMTII. While there is a lot that could be said about different concepts of astrology, this page will be limited to the most relevant ones. Western astrology Western astrology is a form of divination based on the construction of a horoscope for an exact moment, such as a person's birth. It uses the tropical zodiac, which is aligned to the equinoctial points.86 Western astrology is founded on the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies such as the Sun, Moon and planets, which are analysed by their movement through signs of the zodiac (twelve spatial divisions of the ecliptic) and by their aspects (based on geometric angles) relative to one another. They are also considered by their placement in houses (twelve spatial divisions of the sky). Astrology's modern representation in western popular media is usually reduced to sun sign astrology, which considers only the zodiac sign of the Sun at an individual's date of birth, and represents only 1/12 of the total chart. Historical astrology tended to be much more complicated than this, in keeping with its depiction as a subject that was considered scholarly. Along with tarot divination, astrology is one of the core studies of Western esotericism, and as such has influenced systems of magical belief not only among Western esotericists and Hermeticists, but also belief systems such as Wicca that have borrowed from or been influenced by the Western esoteric tradition. Tanya Luhrmann has said that "all magicians know something about astrology," and refers to a table of correspondences in Starhawk's The Spiral Dance, organised by planet, as an example of the astrological lore studied by magicians. The zodiac is the belt or band of constellations through which the Sun, Moon, and planets move on their journey across the sky. Astrologers noted these constellations and so attached a particular significance to them. Over time they developed the system of twelve signs of the zodiac, based on twelve of the constellations through which the sun passes throughout the year, those constellations that are "Enlightened by the mind". Although there are twelve main symbols, sometimes people consider there to be a thirteenth, based on including the ophiuchus, and think that a thirteen symbol period might be more accurate. Note how many of the associations ascribed to different symbols are ambiguous, and many people even use different ones. While in devil survivor 2 the game is presented as based on astrology, due to the ambiguity of some associations, it wouldn't always be easy to try to discover which features different characters are meant to be associated with, if directly so. However, they endings are however associated with the concepts of fixed, cardinal, and mutable, and have more direct associations. Note of course that the aspects of world transformation implied in the different endings have associations of astrological influence. A quadruplicity means a group of four. In astrology this often means the groups of cardinal, fixed and mutable signs, each being a group of four signs. For example, the cardinal quadruplicity is the four signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. Cardinal signs. The word "cardinal" comes from the French "cardo" meaning a hinge, that on which something turns. It is the most important part. The cardinal directions are the north, south, east and west. They are the times when the seasons change. Aries for Spring; Cancer for Summer; Libra for Autumn; and Capricorn for Winter. They therefore are times for a new beginning. Cardinal signs want action. They correspond to the beginning of each of the four seasons. These signs are characterised by enterprise, or starting things. Ronaldo's ending is associated with the cardinal signs, implying the desire to transform the world in a more positive direction. Fixed signs. The word "fixed" means securely placed and fastened and implies unchanging. In Astrology, the fixed signs are the second, fifth, eighth and eleventh (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius). They are characterised by the keyword "stability" or firm and dependable. Fixed signs are loyal, steadfast, and stubborn. They tend to resist change and they have excellent follow through. The word "fixed" means securely placed and fastened and implies unchanging. Daichi's ending is associated with the concept of the fixed signs, likely to call to mind sticking with the current plan and state of the world, rather than radically changing it. Mutable signs. The word "mutable" means "subject to change". The mutable signs are the third, sixth, ninth and twelfth (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces). The keyword for these is "adaptability". Mutable signs are flexible, adaptable, and changeable. Although they can be inconsistent and lack follow-through, they are ready to make small changes and adjustments to accommodate others. Yamato's ending is depicted as the mutable ending, showing the dynamic change that could come with it. Eastern astrology Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theory of the three harmonies: heaven, earth and man) and uses concepts such as yin and yang, the Five phases, the 10 Celestial stems, the 12 Earthly Branches, and shichen (a form of timekeeping used for religious purposes). The early use of Chinese astrology was mainly confined to political astrology, the observation of unusual phenomena, identification of portents and the selection of auspicious days for events and decisions. The constellations of the Zodiac of western Asia and Europe were not used; instead the sky is divided into Three Enclosures, and Twenty-eight Mansions in twelve Ci. The Chinese zodiac of twelve animal signs is said to represent twelve different types of personality. It is based on cycles of years, lunar months, and two-hour periods of the day (the shichen). The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and the cycle proceeds through 11 other animals signs: the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Complex systems of predicting fate and destiny based on one's birthday, birth season, and birth hours, such as ziping and Zi Wei Dou Shu are still used regularly in modern-day Chinese astrology. They do not rely on direct observations of the stars. The Korean zodiac is identical to the Chinese one. The Vietnamese zodiac is almost identical to Chinese zodiac except the second animal is the Water Buffalo instead of the Ox, and the fourth animal is the Cat instead of the Rabbit. In Chinese astrology the animal signs assigned by year represent what others perceive you as being or how you present yourself. It is a common misconception that the animals assigned by year are the only signs and many western descriptions of Chinese astrology draw solely on this system. In fact, there are also animal signs assigned by month (called inner animals), by day (called true animals) and hours (called secret animals). The Earth is all 12 signs, 5 seasons. While a person might appear to be a Dragon because they were born in the year of the Dragon, they might also be a Snake internally, an Ox truly, and a Goat secretively. A conflict between a person's zodiac sign and how they live is known as tai sui or kai sui. The most direct depiction of the Chinese zodiac in-game is that working for chaos is the the twelve guardians of Yakushi-Nyorai (the medicine buddha), who each possesses an aspect of the Twelve Sacred Animals from Chinese calendar. In-game they seem to be working under Atavaka, and are on the chaos side. The twelve are Hindu yaksa who were later incorporated into Buddhism as protective warriors. In Japanese sculpture and art, they are almost always grouped in a protective circle around Yakushi Nyorai -- they are rarely shown independently. Their main function is to protect Yakushi Nyorai, to protect those who read/believe in Buddhist writings that expand faith in Yakushi, to fight the enemies of Buddhism, and to wage war on sickness. However, despite them appearing as the symbols of the astrology, their appearance may be more related to buddhism. Note how astrology tends not to be associated with law.